Every employee who commutes in a University vehicle may be required to include use of the vehicle as a fringe benefit for tax purposes unless specifically exempted by the Internal Revenue Service. The taxable fringe benefit value is calculated yearly. The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidelines for reporting and withholding on taxable fringe benefits. Employees must complete required reporting and withholding forms in a timely manner and submit them to their Institutional Fleet Coordinators. In turn, the Coordinators must submit the forms to the University Fleet Administrator.
The State of Maryland has, in the past, elected not to deduct and withhold Federal and State income taxes for the non-cash fringe benefits associated with an employee's commute use of University vehicles. The fair market value of the fringe benefits, less commute payments, is included on the employee's annual Wage and Tax Statement (Form W-2). FICA tax will be withheld from employees who are FICA taxable.
Institutional Fleet Coordinators must ensure that records are maintained that identify each employee who is permanently assigned a vehicle and who uses the vehicle for commute purposes. Records of commute mileage for these employees must also be maintained by the Institution. Such records must be maintained even if the employee is exempt from commute charges.
Institutional Fleet Coordinators are responsible for ensuring that all Institutional employees who are required to report fringe value do so. Each employee is personally responsible to the Internal Revenue Service for the submission of accurate information. Institutional Fleet Coordinators are responsible for checking the forms for completeness prior to submission to the University Fleet Administrator. The University Fleet Administrator is responsible for the overall coordination and forwarding of information from the Institutions for payroll processing.